Clarity is beginning to form around Donald Trump’s plans for ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, with his administration appearing to accept some of the Kremlin’s key demands that Ukraine should not join NATO nor return to its pre-2014 sovereign borders.

I last visited this area in 2023, when Ukraine launched a much-anticipated counter-offensive. At the time, Ukrainians dared to dream of winning this war. They had, after all, won the battle of Kyiv and liberated swathes of territory elsewhere.

As President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin signal they are prepared to start negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, China is pushing to play a role. Chinese officials in recent weeks have floated a proposal to the Trump team through intermediaries to hold a summit between the two leaders and to facilitate peacekeeping efforts after an eventual truce,